The Police Report After a Car Accident in New York: What It Says, What It Means, and How to Use It

After a car accident in New York, the police report is one of the most important documents in your entire claim. Insurance adjusters request it within days of the accident. Defense attorneys cite it in depositions. Your attorney uses it to identify witnesses, reconstruct the crash, and establish the foundation of your liability case.

Understanding what the MV-104 contains, how to obtain it, how insurers use it against you, and what to do when it contains errors can meaningfully affect the outcome of your case.

What Is the MV-104?

The MV-104 is New York State’s official Motor Vehicle Accident Report, completed by a law enforcement officer at the scene of a qualifying accident. When police respond to a crash, the responding officer fills out the MV-104 documenting the parties involved, witness information, insurance details, the officer’s observations about the accident scene, contributing factor codes, violation codes, and a narrative and diagram of the collision.

The MV-104 is distinct from the MV-104A, which is the driver’s report form. Understanding the difference between these two documents is essential:

MV-104 (Officer’s Report): Completed by the police officer. This report is not privileged and is admissible as evidence in New York civil litigation. Courts regularly admit the MV-104 as a business record under CPLR Article 45. The officer’s observations, contributing factor designations, and violation codes can be used by all parties at trial.

MV-104A (Driver’s Report): Completed by the involved driver. Under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law §605, the driver’s accident report is privileged — meaning it cannot be used as evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding. This privilege protects drivers who report their own accidents from having those reports used against them. The MV-104A is confidential and not available to insurance companies or opposing attorneys.

When police respond to the scene, only the MV-104 (officer’s report) will be available to you, your attorney, and the insurer. The MV-104A privilege does not protect the MV-104.

When Are Police Required to Respond?

In New York, police are required to respond to accidents involving injury or death. For property-damage-only accidents, police response varies by jurisdiction and agency workload — in many parts of Long Island and NYC, officers may not respond to minor fender-benders unless there is an injury or a disabled vehicle blocking traffic.

If police do not respond to your accident, you are required to file an MV-104A (driver’s accident report) with the New York DMV if damage to any vehicle exceeds $1,000 or if anyone is injured. This report must be filed within 10 days of the accident. Failure to file when required can result in license suspension.

What the MV-104 Contains

A New York MV-104 is a detailed document. Key sections include:

Party Information: Name, address, date of birth, license number, and insurance information for each driver involved. Insurance policy numbers and insurance company names are recorded here — critical for no-fault and liability claim filings.

Vehicle Information: Make, model, year, registration, and VIN for each vehicle. The MV-104 also records the direction each vehicle was traveling, the posted speed limit, and the estimated speed at time of impact.

Witness Information: Names, addresses, and phone numbers of any witnesses identified at the scene. Witnesses identified on the MV-104 are among the first contacts your attorney will reach in a contested liability case. Witness availability decreases rapidly after an accident, making the MV-104 witness list time-sensitive.

Officer Observations: The responding officer records their direct observations at the scene — skid marks, final resting positions of vehicles, roadway conditions, weather conditions, traffic controls present, and the physical condition of drivers (apparent intoxication, injuries observed). These observations, made by a neutral third-party law enforcement officer shortly after the crash, carry significant weight with insurers and juries.

Diagram: A spatial diagram showing the roadway layout, intersection geometry, vehicle positions at impact, and final resting positions. The diagram is particularly useful for reconstructing angle-of-impact, lane positions, and right-of-way disputes.

Contributing Factor Codes: Officers assign standardized contributing factor codes from a list that includes distracted driving (cell phone use, texting), failure to yield right-of-way, following too closely, unsafe speed, improper lane change, driver inattention, traffic control violation, and many others. A contributing factor code assigned to the other driver supports your liability argument; a contributing factor assigned to you will be used against you.

Violation Codes: If the officer issued a traffic summons to one of the drivers, the violation code is recorded on the MV-104. A traffic summons for failure to yield, running a red light, or improper lane change issued to the other driver is powerful evidence supporting your claim.

Narrative Section: In contested or complex accidents, the officer may include a brief written narrative describing their understanding of how the accident occurred. This narrative is not a legal conclusion, but it can reflect the officer’s assessment of fault based on the scene evidence and driver statements.

How to Obtain the Police Report

Obtaining the MV-104 differs depending on which agency responded to your accident.

NYPD (New York City Accidents): NYC accident reports can be requested online through the NYPD’s Online Accident Report Request portal at the NYPD’s website. You will need the accident date, location, and at least one driver’s information. Reports typically become available within 3–14 business days of the accident. There is a fee per report.

Nassau County Police Department: Nassau County PD accident reports can be ordered online through the department’s Records Bureau or in person at NCPD headquarters. Reports are typically available within 5–10 business days. Required information includes the date, location, and case or complaint number if available.

Suffolk County Police Department: Suffolk County PD reports are available through the SCPD Records and Communications Bureau online portal or in person. A nominal fee is charged per report. Processing time is 5–10 business days.

New York State Police: State Police accident reports are requested through the NYS DMV using the MV-198 form (Request for Copy of Accident Report). The form can be submitted online or by mail to the DMV. Reports involving State Police are typically available within 2–3 weeks.

All Agencies — NYS DMV Copy: Regardless of which agency prepared the original report, accident reports are eventually transmitted to the NYS DMV. You can request a copy using the MV-198 form. This is a useful backup if the original agency is slow to respond or the report has been transferred to the DMV system.

Your attorney will obtain the report on your behalf as part of standard case intake. If you are handling your own claim initially, obtaining the report promptly is important — do not wait to request it.

Timeline: How Long Until the Report Is Available

Most New York police accident reports become available within 3–14 business days from the date of the accident. Complex accidents involving fatalities, DUI investigation, or contested reconstruction may take longer. State Police reports through the DMV MV-198 process can take 2–3 weeks.

If your accident occurred on a Friday evening, your timeline starts from the following business day in most agency systems. Rush requests are not typically available from most agencies, which is another reason to retain an attorney early — a law firm with established relationships with agency records bureaus can sometimes expedite retrieval.

How Insurers Use the Police Report

Insurance adjusters receive the MV-104 as one of their first investigative documents. Here is how they use it:

Fault Determination: The contributing factor codes and violation codes on the MV-104 are the insurer’s primary initial fault-determination tool. If the officer assigned contributing factor code “failure to yield right-of-way” to the other driver and issued a traffic summons, the adjuster will factor that heavily in assessing comparative fault. If contributing factor codes are assigned to both drivers, the insurer will use this to argue comparative negligence to reduce their exposure.

Recorded Statement Requests: When adjusters call to schedule a recorded statement, they will typically reference the MV-104’s version of events and ask questions designed to see if your account is consistent or inconsistent with the officer’s report. Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer without consulting an attorney. The MV-104 may contain inaccuracies, and statements you make assuming the report is accurate can lock you into a version of events that limits your claim.

Initial Coverage Decisions: For no-fault claims, the at-fault party’s insurer and your own no-fault insurer both review the MV-104 to confirm that the accident description is consistent with the no-fault application. Significant inconsistencies between the MV-104 and your no-fault application description can trigger investigation delays.

IME and SIU Referrals: Insurers use MV-104 data (vehicle speed, impact severity, damage description) to assess whether claimed injuries are consistent with the collision severity. Low-speed accident designations on the MV-104 are frequently used to send claimants to Independent Medical Examinations (IMEs) and Special Investigation Unit (SIU) reviews challenging the legitimacy of injury claims.

Limitations of the Police Report

The MV-104 is important, but it is not conclusive — and your attorney will be the first to point out its limitations when it works against your claim.

The Officer Did Not See the Crash: The responding officer arrived after the accident occurred. Their observations are based on physical evidence, driver statements, and witness accounts — not direct observation of the collision. Courts recognize that MV-104 observations are not the same as eyewitness testimony to the crash itself.

Contributing Factor Codes Are Not Legal Conclusions: A contributing factor code on the MV-104 is the officer’s administrative designation, not a legal finding of negligence. The code can be admitted into evidence, but the jury is not bound by it. An accident reconstruction expert who testifies that the physical evidence contradicts the officer’s contributing factor designation can overcome the MV-104 on liability.

Driver Statements May Be Inaccurate or Self-Serving: The MV-104 narrative often reflects what drivers told the officer at the scene. Those statements were made in a stressful moment, often without full knowledge of what happened, and sometimes with self-protective intent. Your attorney can challenge driver statements recorded in the MV-104 with independent physical evidence, traffic camera footage, and witness testimony.

Hearsay Considerations: While the MV-104 itself is admissible as a business record, specific statements of non-party witnesses recorded in the narrative may raise hearsay issues at trial depending on how they are offered.

What to Do If the Report Contains Errors

Police reports contain errors more often than most people expect. The officer may have recorded the wrong direction of travel, incorrect insurance information, an inaccurate diagram, or a contributing factor code based on incomplete information at the scene. Errors in the MV-104 can create problems with your insurance claim if not corrected.

Contact the Issuing Agency Promptly: The first step is to contact the records bureau of the police agency that prepared the report. Request an in-person appointment with the records supervisor or the officer’s supervisor to discuss the specific inaccuracy. Bring documentary evidence supporting your version — photographs from the scene, your own sketch of the accident, witness contact information, and any physical evidence.

Request a Supplemental Report: In many cases, the officer can file a supplemental or amended report correcting a factual error. Officers are more likely to amend administrative details (incorrect address, wrong insurance company name) than to change contributing factor designations or narrative descriptions. Submit your correction request in writing and follow up.

Document Your Disagreement Through Independent Evidence: If the agency declines to amend the report, your attorney can build a counter-narrative using independent evidence: traffic camera footage (request preservation immediately — many cameras overwrite footage within 30 days), surveillance video from nearby businesses, black box (EDR) data from the vehicles, cell phone records showing the other driver was texting, and photographs of the final vehicle positions. A well-supported liability case can overcome an adverse MV-104 contributing factor code at trial.

Preserve Evidence Immediately: Do not wait for the police report before preserving evidence. Photograph the accident scene, vehicle positions, roadway markings, skid marks, and damage to both vehicles. Get names and contact information for every witness. Note the exact time and location. This contemporaneous evidence is often more powerful than the MV-104 itself.

When Police Do Not Respond

When police do not respond to a property-damage-only accident on Long Island or in the outer boroughs, you must document everything yourself at the scene. Exchange insurance cards, driver’s licenses, and vehicle registration information with all other drivers. Photograph both vehicles from multiple angles, the license plates of all vehicles involved, and the roadway. Note the exact location, date, and time.

If damage to any vehicle exceeds $1,000 or anyone was injured — even if the injury seems minor at the scene — you are required to file the MV-104A (driver’s accident report) with the NYS DMV within 10 days. You can download the MV-104A from the NYS DMV website. Remember: the MV-104A is privileged under VTL §605 and cannot be used as evidence against you.

For injury claims where police did not respond, your attorney will build the liability record from driver exchange documents, photographs, witness statements, and available surveillance footage in place of the MV-104.

Working With an Attorney on Police Report Issues

The police report is one piece of a larger evidentiary picture. Our Long Island car accident lawyers review the MV-104 at intake, identify inaccuracies or adverse contributing factor codes, coordinate with clients on correction requests, and build independent liability evidence to supplement or contradict the report when necessary.

If you have been injured in a car accident in Nassau County, Suffolk County, or anywhere in New York City, the sooner you have an attorney reviewing your MV-104, the better your position will be when the insurer uses it against you. Call (516) 750-0595 for a free consultation. There is no fee unless we win.